More Than a Smiling Face
by zutarafn1
Summary: we all know Aerith as a sweet kind girl that helps out everyone with their problems.She is always there to listen. What does she do though, when she has problems of her own. Like when cloud isn't there for her? yea! the story is now complete! clerith
1. Chapter 1

More Than a Smiling Face

Chapter 1

it was just a normal day for Aerith. Cid and Yuffie were still arguing about who was a better fighter and what weapons were the best. Leon was sitting in a corner reading a book. Cloud was gone as usual. for some reason though, she felt really sad. she felt as though she need to cry , but she couldn't cry in front of her friends. Aerith had always smiled and put on a mask so her friends wouldn't worry about her. Aerith felt she couldn't burden them with her problems or they'd get sad as well. So, Aerith got and started to go to her room to think.

"Hey Aerith," Yuffie started out, "where ya goin' ?" Leon and Cid tuned in on the conversation.

"Oh. umm... , " she paused, " i'm just going to my room to think for a while. i'll be back down by 6:00 kay'." she ended with a smile and went on her way, while Cid,Yuffie, and Leon watched with confused faces as the quiet girl went upstairs.

Aerith sat on her bed trying to figure out why she was so sad. her friends hadn't mistreated her and she hadn't forgotten anything about anything. the harder she thought about it, the sadder she got. finally, she started to cry. Aerith pulled her knees close, put her head down, and started to cry. for she had finally realized why she as crying: she missed cloud.

X X X X X X X X X X X X

"ya know Aerith 'az been upstairs a really long time. she said she'd be back down by 6:00, but it's almost 10:00 at night." Cid mentioned, schewing on his toothpick.

"yeah, i know," Leon paused for a moment, then spoke again, "she seemed different today."

then Yuffie began to speak," i think maybe we should check on her." the other two friends agreed to check on Aerith. so they all went upstairs and when the got to her room, Leon and Cid made Yuffie knock on the door because she had a lighter touch than them.Knock.Knock.

"Aerith." no response. so Yuffie knocked agian."Aerith?" once again no response. "do you think it'd be all right if we stepped inside?" Yuffie asked, with a worried face.

"it should be all right," Leon started out," i mean we are her friends and we are concerned for her health." he said seriously. so the friends stepped into Aerith's room.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

(hey! zutarafn1 here hoped you like the first chapter. sorry it took me so long to update the story. I hope that you enjoy it. Feel free to send me reviews so that i can improve on writing fan fictions. Thanks!)

When they finally stepped into Aerith's room. They noticed that everything was in its place. Nothing ever moved in Aerith's room. She had put white lace curtains over her window. The curtains began to blow lightly from the gentle breeze. Her room was as quiet as she was. Cid, Yuffie, and Leon finally looked over at Aerith's bed. She had fallen asleep.

Yuffie chuckled, as soon as she noticed a little drool on the 18 year olds' chin. Aerith seemed so peaceful when she slept. her breathing was quiet and she even smiled in her sleep, but not this time. Aerith was breathing hard and fast. And she wasn't smiling, she looked, frightened.

Leon, Cid, and Yuffie noticed that she had been crying. Her face was stained tears. Leon looked at her hands. Then he spoke:

"hey guys, what's that under her hand?" Cid and Yuffie looked at her hands. There was pen in her left, and a letter under her right. 'This is so unlike her' Yuffie thought to herself.

"Leon, Cid," she started in a whisper, "I know we shouldn't peak, but I wanna see why she's so sad." Cid and Leon both nodded to Yuffie to say it's okay to look at the letter, for they were also concerned. So Yuffie ever so gingerly picked up Aerith's frail arm and picked up the letter to them in a whisper:

"Dear Cloud,

I miss you. I miss you so much. I get so depressed when you are away. I go somewhere to cry everyday that away. Cid, Leon, and Yuffie don't know about my depression problem. i just can't burden them. They may just get mad or sad because of me."

X X X X X X

Yuffie stopped reading. She spoke, " How could she - how could she think that?" Yuffie's heart throbbed and her eyes welled up with tears.

"Ya see Yuffie, I've known Aerith since she waz a lil' girl. So I know how she works. Aerith ain't like us." he paused, "We can say what's on our mind. We know everyone'll listen. Aerith's different. She's like a lil' girl in her mind when it comes ta problems." Cid pointed to his head. "She has ta register her feelin's before she can have'm. It's hard fer her ta share what's wrong." he gave Yuffie a one armed hug. She understood a little. She looked over at Aerith. Aerith's expression changed. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she was gritting her teeth. She had begun to cry in her sleep.

(One thing I forgot to mention was the supposed ages of the characters, so here they are: Aerith-18, Cloud- 20, Tifa-18, Leon-19, Cid- 30, and Yuffie- 17)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Leon tapped Yuffie's shoulder and spoke, "We need to finish the letter." Yuffie nodded and started to read again.

"Cloud, my visions are getting worse. I'm afraid they're going to come true. I don't want to us lose our relationship. Please come back soon. I feel I am falling into the darkness. I need my light.

Love,

- Aerith''

All of the friends were puzzled. They had never seen this side of Aerith before. Yuffie was speechless. Leon's arms were folded and his eyes were closed. Cid had his hand on his chin.' Man, this is worse than when Zack died.' Cid said to himself. He was thinking long and hard of a plan, then he got it! Tifa could help Aerith. She helped her snap out of it last time. Cid turned to Yuffie.

"Yuffie I have a way of getting the normal Aerith back. Me an' Leon are going to make a phone call. You get Aerith cleaned up an' into her pajamas.

"Kay'." Yuffie said with a stern nod, then Leon and Cid went downstairs.

X X X X X X

Yuffie rifled thorough Aerith's dresser to find her pj's. It didn't take really long, since Aerith was so organized. Yuffie laid her pajamas on the corner of her bed, then went into Aerith's bathroom and wetted down a light pink rag. Yuffie came out of the bathroom and wiped Aerith's face with caution. Aerith began to stir.

"Cl-Cloud, come back." she cried in her sleep.

"Shhh... Aerith, it's all right." Yuffie wiped away the tears on the girls face. After that, Aerith was quiet. Yuffie put the rag down, and then got Aerith into her pj's. 'Good thing she's as light as she looks' Yuffie thought to herself, as she got her into a white tank top and pink bottoms. She laid Aerith back down. Then got a brush from Aerith's bedside table and untied her hair. She made sure to be careful with the pink ribbon in Aerith's hair.

That ribbon was very special to Aerith. It was from one of her very close friends, Zack Fair. She placed it and the pony tails on the bedside table. Then she brushed out her waist length, chestnut brown hair, and then put her under the covers. Yuffie sat in the chair beside Aerith's bed and held her hand while she slept.

(I'll update the rest of the chapters as soon as I can!)


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

While Yuffie was taking care of Aerith, Leon and Cid were trying to get a hold of Tifa.

"Come on, come on you stupid girl! pick up the dang phone!" cid got more and more aggravated when the other phone line rang." when's this dumb girl gonna answer-" cid was interrupted.

"Who are you calling dumb?" Tifa said sleepily. She rubbed her eyes.

"No-one." cid said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Anyway, Cid what is so important that you called me at 11:30 at night?" she asked irritated. (Tifa was awake now.)

"Well," Cid started out and then he told Tifa all about Aerith and her problem.

"I'll be right over cid." then Tifa hung up, Cid closed his cell phone. he looked over at Leon.

"Tifa's on er' way over here. I didn't ask er' about cloud yet."

" I think I see now. You want Tifa to try to talk to her first before trying to reach cloud. To see how bad it is right?" Leon looked at Cid.

"Somethin' like that. Ya see Tifa helped ta snap Aerith out of it last time. So I thought she could do it again." Ten minutes went by, then there was a knock at the door. Leon got up to answer it. It was Tifa. She was still in her pajama's and light jacket.

"Hey." Leon said, giving Tifa a big smile. (could they be together?)'She looks cute even in her pajamas.' Leon thought.

"hey." Tifa returned the smile and grazed Leon's hand in an affectionate way, before she walked over to Cid. "How's Aerith?" she asked with a solemn face.

"Not good." cid said with his head hung low." I called you for help because you helped out with Zack and you're her best friend and-" Tifa finished his sentence.

"You thought I might be able to repeat the process?" cid nodded yes. "I'll give it a shot." she smiled and started to go towards the stairs, but Cid grabbed her arm.

"You do know where he is don't you?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure. Here's the number where he should be. That's all I know." she handed the paper to Cid, then went to help Aerith.

X X X X X X

Tifa arrived at Aerith's door and gave a soft knock. "Come in." Yuffie said. Tifa walked in and sat easily on the corner of Aerith's bed. She noticed Aerith wasn't sleeping like she normally did.

'' How's she doing Yuffie?"

"Well for one thing, she's crushing my hand." Yuffie got her hand away from Aerith's and shook her hand out. Tifa chuckled. "Other than that, she's not doing so great. Look at this letter she was gonna send cloud." Tifa read the letter quickly and gave it back to Yuffie, who put on the bedside table.

"Wow. Cid's right. It's worse than the last time. Well, I guess I should try to talk to her now." Tifa shook Aerith's shoulder gently. "Aerith? Aerith?" suddenly, Aerith sat up and her hands were around Tifa's neck.

"How could you go away again cloud?" Aerith said in her sleep. She didn't say it angrily though, it was more sad like. Tifa was still struggling to get free of Aerith's hands. Yuffie was finally able to help Tifa out of Aerith's death grip. Tifa started to cough. Aerith snapped awake.

"Oh! Tifa, I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?" she said with earnest eyes.

"N-no." Tifa struggled to speak at first and she couldn't tell Aerith that she had hurt her, it'd break her heart. "It's fine, I've had worse." Aerith sighed and put her hand on her chest. "Ya know Aerith," Tifa said rubbing her throat, Aerith looked up, "for such a sweet, kind, and petite girl, you have a grip like iron." Tifa joked. Then Aerith provided a smile.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Hey Yuffie, "Aerith spoke.

"Yeah?"

"How'd I end up in my room and in my pj's? All I can remember is I was cooking dinner for you, Tifa, Cid, and Leon." Tifa signaled Yuffie not to remind her about cloud. So she kind of lied.

"You fell asleep after finishing supper. Cid carried you to your room and I put you in your pj's." It sorta was the truth, right?

"Oh." Aerith said. She started to think. Wait. That can't be right. She hadn't cooked. What was it that happened?

"Aerith," she looked at Tifa, "I have to talk to Yuffie really quick. Can we use your bathroom?"

"Sure." Aerith said smiling. Tifa and Yuffie went into her bathroom to talk. Aerith got up and started to brush her hair. She walked over to her window to look at the night sky. Looking at the stars helped her to remember things more clearly.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Yuffie at the clock. 12:45 am. She yawned. Boy was she tired.

"Well it's funny, but last time this happened when she woke up, she remembered that Zack died, but she was able to get through it. This was because she had something to remember him by. She doesn't have anything to help her remember that Cloud'll come back to her and he's always with her." Yuffie agreed. "Why don't you go ahead and tell Cid to try to get a hold of cloud, then you get to bed." she said, pinching Yuffie's cheek.

"Okay. Okay. Let go!" she said laughing. "I'll see ya later." then she headed downstairs and Tifa went to talk to Aerith.

X X X X X X

"So what did you and Yuffie talk about?" Aerith was still holding her purple brush.

"Nothing much. I'll put that away for you."

"Okay. Thank you." Aerith gave Tifa the hairbrush and then turned back to the stars. She began to remember what happened and why she'd been her room. Aerith began to remember his voice.

'Aerith.'

"No! Go away!" she crouched down and put her hands on her ears. Aerith felt Tifa's touch.

'Aerith. Did I hurt you again?'

"No! Stop! Leave me alone!" Aerith faintly heard Tifa trying to reach her with words.

'I'm sorry Aerith.' Aerith began to count down from 10. She also had started to cry.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." The voice of cloud went away, but Aerith was still crying. Tifa let Aerith collapse on her shoulder, until she cried herself to sleep. Then Tifa put her back in bed and went to join the others.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Tifa made it downstairs and saw the others were asleep except for cid." I don't think that we can do anything for her this time. I didn't get anywhere. It's all up to cloud now. Were you able to get a hold of him?"

"Yeah, I did. He's coming here first thing in the mornin'.'' he answered.

"I wish he could get here sooner."

"I know. Why don't you go to sleep on the couch in the study?"

"Thanks Cid." Cid gave her a pillow and a blanket, and then Tifa went back to bed, while Cid sat in a chair trying to stay awake, to keep Aerith from sneaking off in her present state. I

It was 7:45 in the morning, when Aerith woke up. Only she wasn't fully awake. She was still in a confused state. So it was like she was sleepwalking. Aerith had light footsteps and movements, so she was able to get around downstairs without her sleeping friends knowing she snuck out. Including Cid.

Aerith was out of the house, walking down the street in her pajamas, barefoot. She made her way to the Bailey then, stood on the walls edge. Aerith spoke out loud.

"I-I can't take it anymore. I'm sorry Cl-''

"Why are you sorry?" a young man asked. Aerith snapped out of her confused state completely and went back to her normal self.

"Cl-Cloud. You're home." Aerith started to cry from happiness. Her back was facing him.

"Yes. I'm here now and I'm sorry. Why don't you come down from that ledge before you hurt yourself okay?" Aerith tried to turn around, so she could get off the ledge, but she slipped. She was falling. Aerith stopped suddenly. Cloud had caught her by the hand. Then he pulled her up and held her close. She was shaking, but his warm embrace calmed her down.

X X X X X X

"Aerith?"

"Hmmm?" she answered.

"I promise that I'm never going to leave you again. To keep that promise-" he pulled away from their hug, and pulled out a pale green box. Then cloud got down on one knee." Aerith Gainsborough, will you marry me?" She just stared in awe as he slid the pink diamond ring on her finger. She hugged him on his neck.

"Yes. Yes I will." she stroked his hair. Then cloud tilted her head up and kissed her passionately on the lips several times. From then on, Aerith knew she'd never be alone ever again.


End file.
